Hot Pink Cupcakes with Raspberry Filling

This weekend’s baking extravaganza included several batches of cookies and a few batches of cupcakes for a friend of a friend’s daughter’s birthday. Inside, these white almond cupcakes have a surprise: a raspberry buttercream filling, with an extra pop of pink.

My first plan for these cupcakes involved raspberry jam filling, but it just didn’t seem right for a whimsical, rock star-themed girl’s party. Because I wanted a pink filling, I tossed together a version of raspberry buttercream that is much more filling-like than frosting-like. You could use a raspberry filling like the one in this lemon raspberry roulade, or even a pastry cream tinted pink, if you prefer.

Ingredients

White Almond Cupcakes

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shortening

1 3/4 sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 egg whites

1 1/3 cup buttermilk our sour milk*

*To make sour milk, place 1 1/3 tablespoons vinegar in a glass measuring cup and add enough milk to make 1 1/3 total cups. Stir, then let stand for 5 minutes before using.

Raspberry Buttercream Filling

4 tablespoons butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

About 1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Hot Pink Buttercream

2 cups butter, softened

1/8 teaspoon salt

6 cups powdered sugar, sifted

2 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons almond extract

3-4 tablespoons milk

Magenta gel food coloring

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners; this recipe makes about 32 cupcakes, so if you only have two tins like me, you’ll need to let one cool and re-line it for your last batch.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat shortening and sugar together until creamy. Add vanilla and beat until combined, then add egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add flour mixture and sour milk alternatively, starting and ending with the flour, beating until just combined after each addition.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop batter into prepared tins, filling no more than half-full.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, until tops are light golden and a cake tester inserted in the middle of a few cupcakes comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack before filling and frosting.

For the filling: in a mixing bowl, beat butter for about 1 minute. Add raspberry jam; mixture will look clumpy, but that’s fine.

Scrape down the sides of your bowl, then add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until all of the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter/jam mixture; this will take a few minutes.

Scrape down the bowl well and add almond extract, then beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes. The texture of the filling should be yogurt-like. If your consistency is too runny, add a bit more sifted powdered sugar.

Using the small end of a melon baller, scoop out a small amount of each cupcake.

Fit a piping bag with a large plain tip and pipe filling into each cupcake.

For the frosting: in a mixing bowl, beat butter for about 1 minute, then add salt and beat another minute.

Add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until all of the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter; this will take a few minutes. I cover my mixer with a kitchen towel during this process to avoid a powdered sugar mess on my counter.

Add vanilla extract and almond extract, beating well to combine for about 2 minutes. Add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until frosting reaches a fluffy consistency. Add magenta food coloring to create a bright pink shade.

Fit a piping bag with a Wilton 1M tip and pipe frosting onto cupcakes in swirls.